Who's making America so fat?

Detroit News ^ | 9/22/02 | Lynn Waldsmith

[LogicWings]

Just got to add to the data. I was 231 lbs and had been approaching that weight for the last 5 years. I went on the AMA recommended low fat high carb diet. I made my own, complex carbo bread, with complex grains, special low fat toppings. It was all I ate for a year. I lived at the beach and walked the dog a 5 mile loop, a brisk walk, 3 to 5 times a week. I also lifted weights a few times a week. After a year I lost not a pound.

I had a vertigo problem that I went to the doctor for. Turns out the problem was minor and self correcting but my Blood Pressure was 165/105 !!! He wanted to put me on BP medicine right then.

My wife had been bugging me about Adkins. "Everybody at work is losing weight on it." I was sure this was bunk but read the book anyway. I could kind of see the guy's point, ketosis and all that. I tried it.

In two months I lost 8 lbs and my blood pressure went down 15 points on each side. In six months I lost about 20 lbs and my blood pressure was down another 10, in safe range. After a year I was down to 190, a loss of 41 lbs!. That was two years ago and my set point seems to be 195. BP is normal as long as I don't eat any noodles.

We weren't made to eat all those carbs. We survived by eating meat most of the year and just for brief periods in the spring and fall, sweet veges in spring and fruit in fall, we didn't have much access to sweets, which is why we convert the sugars to fat so efficiently.

Grains are a recent, agricultural invention, which on our historical timeline is the last couple seconds. We are not designed to have carbs as a basis. The 'pyramid' is upside down.

[AgentEcho]

If we could market to the world the way we market to ourselves we'd be a modern day Eden.

Æ

[Reeses]

carbs from natural sugars in fruits do not.

What's natural about huge modern apples or oranges? You think cave men ate these mongo fruit? Just because a hybrid tree growing in a man made grove makes it does not make it natural. Fructose, C6H12O6, is a simple sugar, more simple than plain white cane suger, C12H22O11.

[Senator Pardek]

I gotta laugh - on these LOW FAT!/LOW CARB! shouting match threads, no one ever talks about aerobic exercise and weight training, which are both 10X more important concerning health/weight loss than any fad diet.

And they all wonder why they gain it back...

[buffyt]

If my husband sues me for making him fat by cooking great dinners for him for over thirty years.... well, can I sue my mom and his mom, they taught me how to cook.... no wait, my mother in law is no longer living. I guess I can sue my kids for ordering the pizza that made me fat.....

[JediGirl]

I've always noticed that. For me, it's eating not too many calories, very little junk food, and exercising. I don't really need to lose weight (I'm 5'3 105) but I do want to tone up.

Exercise is key in losing weight and keeping it off.

[exDemMom]

I don't know but reading this stuff makes me want to shut down my computer and head over to Burger Kings for a triple hamburger with giant fries and maybe a chocolate shake. mmmmm

Arrgh, you sadist! The Burger Kings in my town closed a couple of years ago, and now, whenever I do happen to come across a Burger King, it's never when I'm hungry. Gosh, how I miss BK!

[PRND21]

That sentence is key to understanding the source of much of the evil in the world.

Bump

[PRND21]

Plus, my arthritis in my right end went away

You mean "hand"? Or do you have two butts?

[kancel]

>> He blames the four fast food giants for making him obese and causing his obesity-related problems, which include two heart attacks, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. <<

Well I supose it is easier for such a tub of lard to blame any and every one else for his lack of self control and his cpmplete stupidity.

>>Barber, ... claims he was unaware of the fast food's high-fat, high-calorie content. ... has since filed another lawsuit on behalf of three obese teenagers ...<<

You know this is not rocket science. This guy wasnt out walking so what do ya'll think he was doing. Thats right his fat arse was on the couch stuffing his face while he watched TV. You cant miss the ten trillllion things you shoudnt ever consume if you want to live to a ripe old age.

>>fast food, processed food and vending machine food in particular -- is at least partially at fault and should be held accountable for contributing to the declining health of Americans. <<

Because of course they stuck guns to these peoples heads and forced them to inhale this stuff.

>> results in 300,000 deaths a year and $117 billion in health care costs. Poor diet and inactivity now kill as many people as tobacco does.<<

Don't forget to put in the statistsics of how much the food vendors and manufactureres are going to have to pony up to make people happy.

>>author of "Fast Food Nation," the average American eats three hamburgers and four orders of fries every week. More than 90 percent of American children eat at McDonald's at least once a month. <<

Well my kids get fast food once a week- it is a speciall treat for them to go to one fo the restaurants we have around here. But NONE of us eats 3 hamburers or 4 servings of Fries a week!!

>> that parents are suddenly far less responsible than the parents of 15 or 20 years ago. It has to be something that happened relatively recently, and fast food is it." <<

Fast food is not the only reason- and parents are a HUGE part of the equation equalling fat kids. "Little Johnny, mommy is way too busy to be a parent today or any day so when you get home from school every day why dont you pull out a box of twinkies and a 2 liter of soda and take in the living room where you can play your Nintendo and watch your movies until bedtime." And lunches. It is so much easier to pack on of those lunchables thingies with a box of of 95% sugar box juice and a candy bar for desert. Add a breakfast of super chocolaty cookie-oohs for breakfast a bag of chips for a mid afternoon snack and wala, top the night of with that fast food for dinner and waaahlaaaah- a nation of obese kids and adults.

>> not telling people how many calories are in those fries is leaving out important information that people need to eat a healthful diet if they want to," Wootan says. <<

People who eat fast food occassionally dont have to worry about the occassional indulgence of a supersize Coke, a whopper and a large onion rings (my personal favorite fast food meal). Those who eat like that everyday can make no serious claim to wanting to eat a healthful diet.

>> "Even well-educated people think they're making healthier choices when they're not." <<

This is true to some degree. When I was doing Weight Watchers I carried around their little book that would tell you how many "points" a single item at a fast food restaurant was. The difference even in plain salads was astonishing- you might as well have gotten the hamburger in some places. But still- when it mattered I carried around that little book that informed me. Now that I am no longer doing that it doesnt really matter if that fish sandhich has 26g of fat.

>>"And whether the hamburger is from McDonald's or mother's frying pan, what's the difference?" <<
The difference is several billion dollars of course. You arent going to get that kind of money from suing mom.

>> Children, in particular, are targeted through the practice of toy give-aways and other promotional tie-ins. <<

Well true- but these kids wouldnt be going if mom had provided the means. Just becaue the kids WANT to go doesnt mean that they GET to go to any pareticular restaurant.


."

>>The most egregious example of dubious food marketing is contracts between cash-strapped schools and food or soft drink companies, ...These arrangements give a company the right to market its products exclusively in the school in return for a large financial donation. <<

Good- capitalism at work. If the parents dont like it they can hand the kid a luch sack instead of a few dollars for the vending machine. If enough parents provide other foods and dont provide cash to fund the vending machines eventualy they will be pulled because of lack of profits.


>>"Either we need to do it on our own or eventually it's going to be forced on us." <<

Well- I did do it on my own (with the assistance of weight watchers) but it looks like its going to be forced on me anyways.



>>"I tell my students we have warnings not for the brightest people but for the dumb ones and for people who are forgetful and impulsive," Banzhaf admits.<<

I love thsi quote!!

>>Other methods of prodding social change are being tried. ...Another option is to tax soft drinks and snack foods and earmark the funds for nutrition programs, something no state does. <<

How about if we defund our socialistic medical care programs and put more limits on what one can buy with theri foodstamps. If people are paying out of their own pocket for either doctor bills or insurncae than they are going to be more concerned with keeping themselves healthy so it consts them less."

[Brytani]

Granted, for years fruits and vegetables have been grown for size and color more then for nutrition and taste. I'm lucky that where I live I'm able to grow fruit and most vegetables for my own use. I do have to purchase things like onions, garlic, apples since they do not do well in our climate.

I do however grow my own oranges, grapefruits, lychee, limes and mango's along with a year round herb, vegetable and hot pepper (I'm a chili head) garden. A friend of mine has a mango, banana, star fruit and also gardens. We swap fruits etc when all year round. I do not use genetically altered seeds/trees in yard but have never had my fruit tested for nutritional content. I do know the taste is far superior then what I get in the store, though not always as pretty or as large.

While I've never researched the whys and how's, I do know my body reacts much better to simple sugars found in fruits then refined, processed sugars. I've even found using squeezed sugar cane syrup (I can buy sugar cane down here all year round) doesn't increase my blood sugar levels much at all, while 1 tsp of white sugar will. I have to assume this is caused by the refining process but again, I've never checked into it.

[proud_republican07]

Oh yes, that's the mature thing to say. Blame it on the Republicans. Well, if you'll excuse me, the past Democratic presidents we've had have anything but done good for this country.

[aruanan]

Who's making America so fat?

Individual Americans who are loading themselves with more calories than they can burn and getting fat as a result. The only way you won't gain weight is to have an energy expenditure higher than energy intake. And the only way that will happen is to be a growing child or to be more active or to eat less food. Given the fact that food is plentiful, cheap, highly palatable, highly nutritious, easily obtained and that physicial activity is required less and less as part of most people's everyday life, it's easy to gain weight in excess fat. It's just the way we're built. To counter the trend one needs either to have the personal discipline of limiting intake or increasing expenditure or the environmental discipline of crop failure and famine.

In all the talk about the dangers posed by obesity, too many forget that if the "obese" nations were to be as far on the other side of energy intake as they are on the obese side, the economic costs would be catastrophic rather than merely troublesome. Compared with the problems of having too little food, the problems of having too much are minor.

Signed,

Dr. aruanan, a health professional

[Scott from the Left Coast]

It's George Bush's fault.

Do I need to put the /sarc in?

[Centurion2000]

Lost 80# with mostly McDonald's for lunch .... 4 MCchikens a day

The trick ? NO bread ... and drink lots of water and get some exercise.

[Centurion2000]

There's just nothing out there. McD's and Wendy's offer some,

The food is healthy enough ... you just have to know what to eat, and what to throw away.

[tubebender]

Did anyone notice that the "Physicians for Social Responsible Medicine" (aka PETA) had a hand in this lawsuit article. I heard on the radio this morning that the FDA is revising the FAT Food Pyramid. I didn't catch the details.

[mountainfolk]

Like you, I have found McDonalds very useful for weight loss and maintenance. My husband and I lost a bunch on Atkins and now instead of eating at buffets in particular and restaurants in general, we have the dollar menu hamburger or fish, and soda and sometimes fries. The trick for us was limiting what is set before us when eating out. At home we eat so well on a more or less Atkins that a burger is a treat. Congrats on your weight loss. And you are right about the bread, that alone packs the pounds on fast.

[ladyinred]

So stupid! What a country eh?

[AlbionGirl]

Surfeit, prosperity, never really having to earn your calories.